A National Update of Case Law 1998 to the Present Under The Idea and Section 504/A.D.A.

NASDSE is pleased to announce the publication of:  A National Update of Case Law 1998 to the Present under the IDEA and Section 504/A.D.A. by noted legal expert Perry Zirkel. This compendium of litigation will be helpful for anyone looking for the legal history of case law under these three important civil rights laws with respect to educating children and youth with disabilities.  

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IDEA Partnership Meeting

Beginning on the evening of Tuesday, January 17, 2012 and continuing through mid-afternoon on Thursday, January 19, 2012. The participants came together to envision the next phase of our collaborative work on two new tools: Assessments for the Common Core State Standards and the Behavioral Side of Cradle to College and Career (pending OSEP approval).  

Representative in attendance included:

• 45 partner organizations;
• 2 federal agencies;
• 3 state directors of special education and agency personnel from 4 other states;
• 24 national technical assistance centers;
• 9 interns and
• 4 national and 1 state communities of practice.

 For more information, go to:  

 http://ideapartnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1546  

  News from a Partner Organization  

Education Commission of the States (ECS)

• The Progress of Education Reform

The December 2011 (Volume 12, Number 6) issue of The Progress of Education Reform examines:

1)    low Pre-K-12 literacy levels nationally, especially for low-income and diverse student populations;

2)   trends in U.S. students' reading proficiency since the 1970s;

3)   the negative impacts correlated with low reading levels; and

4)   policy recommendations for improving literacy instruction and achievement, particularly in the early grades.

• State Collective Bargaining Policies for Teachers

This edition of the ECS StateNote presents the current collective bargaining policies across the 50 states.

• The Road to High Quality Early Education

This paper addresses the following two questions: (1) What constitutes high-quality early childhood education? and (2) How can it be achieved? It outlines Colorado's journey to provide quality early care and education to children in the state, as well as one classroom-level approach for achieving high-quality early education.

Safe and Drug-Free Schools

Analysis of State Bullying Laws and Policies (2011)  

This report reviews states' bullying laws and model antibullying policies and school districts' antibullying policies. Key findings include: As of April 2011, 46 states had bullying laws, 45 of which directed school districts to adopt antibullying policies. Forty-one states had model antibullying policies. Thirty-six states included provisions in their education codes prohibiting cyberbullying or bullying using electronic media. Thirteen states specified that schools have jurisdiction over off-campus behavior if it creates a hostile school environment.

Abstract

Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)

• 30th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2008 

The report focuses on the infants, children and students birth-21 with disabilities being served under IDEA (P.L. 108-446), nationally and at the state level.

This report describes our nation's progress:

• in providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all children with disabilities;
• in assuring that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected;
• in assisting states and localities in providing for the education of all children with disabilities; and
• in assessing the effectiveness of efforts to educate children with disabilities.

• Data Descriptions and Data Files

Descriptions of the categories and subcategories of IDEA, Part B and Part C data used in the 30th Annual Report and the actual data used to populate the tables and figures in Sections I and II and the appendixes of the report are available at: www.ideadata.org 

Spanish publications

If you are looking for NICHCY publications and products in Spanish, please visit the Spanish language site, NICHCY en español.

Desarrollando el IEP de Su Hijo
The Spanish version of Developing Your Child's IEP was recently updated. 

Project Forum

• Reentry Programs for Students with Disabilities in the Juvenile Justice System: Four State Approaches

This brief policy analysis defines reentry, describes federal efforts to support successful reentry of juvenile justice offenders, relates the prevalence of students with disabilities in the juvenile justice system and recounts recommended reentry strategies from experts in the field. The findings are from interviews with personnel in four states (AZ, GA, HI, OR). The document also includes a review of program-related documents.

IRIS Center

• Behavior: Frequency and Interval Recording. 

This is an activity that provides experience collecting data using both interval recording and frequency recording, two data collections that can help teachers achieve an accurate picture of student performance in the classroom.

• Behavior: Duration and Latency Recording 

This is an activity that provides experience collecting data using both duration recording and latency recording, two methods instructors can use to determine whether a student's behavior is problematic and warrants intervention.

National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials! (AIM)

The Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Post-Secondary Education for Students with Disabilities

The Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities was established by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. The Commission is studying the state of accessible materials for students with disabilities in postsecondary education and will make recommendations to Congress for improving access to and distribution of instructional materials in accessible formats. This is the first commission in history charged with examining accessible instructional materials for postsecondary students with disabilities.

National Center on Response to Intervention (NCRTI)

Comprehensive Evaluation and Learning Disability Identification Webinar Series 

The NCRTI is producing a series of webinars to discuss using RTI in learning disability identification.  Both national and state perspectives will be presented. 

• RTI and Learning Disability (LD) Identification Part I - Regulatory Requirements    
• RTI and Learning Disability (LD) Identification Part II - OSEP Policy Letters    
• Making Sound RTI Decisions: Who Responds to Secondary Prevention.    
• Idaho's Specific Learning Disability Criteria.    
• Colorado Specific Learning Disability Criteria Part - I    
• Colorado Specific Learning Disability Criteria Part - II 

National High School Center

High School Knowledge Database 

 The database houses vetted resources on a variety of high school improvement topics that can be sorted and filtered. The new database includes three search options: 1) a keyword text search; 2) a high school topic area(s) search; and 3) an option to search by the eight elements of high school improvement.    

National High School Center, the Center on Instruction and the National Center on Response to Intervention

Tiered Interventions in High Schools: Using Preliminary 'Lessons Learned' to Guide Ongoing Discussion

This report from the High School Tiered Interventions Initiative (HSTII) summarizes what HSTII has learned about implementing Response to Intervention (RTI) in high schools. HSTII is collaboration between the National High School Center, the Center on Instruction and the National Center on Response to Intervention.

News from Other Centers and Organizations  

Administration for Children and Families

Child Maltreatment 2010

The Administration for Children and Families recently released its latest annual report on child abuse and neglect. The report shows a slight decline in the estimated number of victimized children from 702,000 in 2009 to 695,000 in 2010. Rates of abuse and neglect continued to be highest among infants and young children. The number of fatalities from abuse and neglect also dropped from an estimated 1,770 in 2009 to 1,560 in 2010. 79.4% of the children who died from maltreatment in 2010 were three years of age or younger.

Center on Education Policy

• AYP Results for 2010-11 

The report describes the number of schools that have failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in the 2010-11 school year and also presents six years of AYP trends from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.   For school year 2010-11, about half(48%) of the nation's schools did not make AYP, which is a marked increase from 39% of schools that missed AYP in school year 2009-10 and is the highest percentage since NCLB took effect. 

• State High School Tests: Changes in State Policies and the Impact of the College and Career Readiness Movement 

This report finds that fewer states are requiring students to pass a high school exit exam, although testing in other areas has increased. The report, based on a survey of all 50 state departments of education, discusses state policies associated with high school exit exams, college entrance exams (such as the ACT or SAT) and college and career readiness assessments. State profiles can be found at: State Profiles for Assessment Policies Through 2010-11.

Forum for Youth Investment

Youth Engagement Resources

This webpage provides a resource guide to Forum publications about youth engagement. Resources are organized in three categories: General Youth Action, Education Reform and Advocacy.

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Higher Education and Disability: Improved Federal Enforcement Needed to Better Protect Students' Rights to Testing Accommodations. GAO-12-40      Highlights

Standardized tests are often required to gain admission into postsecondary schools or to obtain professional certifications. Federal disability laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require entities that administer these tests to provide accommodations, such as extended time or changes in test format, to students with disabilities. Among accommodations requested and granted in the most recent testing year, approximately three-quarters were for extra time and about half were for applicants with learning disabilities. High school and postsecondary school officials GAO interviewed reported advising students about which accommodations to request and providing documentation to testing companies, such as a student's accommodations history.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

• Suicide and Bullying

This issue brief examines the relationship between suicide and bullying among children and adoles­cents, with special attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth. It also explores strategies for preventing these problems.The brief describes the extent of the problem and identifies strategies for bullying and suicide prevention.

• Bullying in Schools: An Overview

This bulletin examines the connection between different types and frequencies of bullying, truancy and student achievement and whether students' engagement in school mediates these factors. It discusses the results of three studies conducted in 2007 by the National Center for School Engagement and compares these results with those from a Swedish study. The authors conclude that victimization in the form of bullying can distance students from learning. Schools can overcome this negative effect if they adopt strategies that engage students in their work, creating positive learning environments that produce academic achievement.

National Center on Family Homelessness

America's Youngest Outcasts 2010

This report documents the numbers of homeless children in every state, their well-being, the risk for child homelessness and state level planning and policy activities. The report finds that more than 1.6 million children were homeless in America in 2010, a 38 percent increase since 2007, the first year of the country's recent economic recession.

NOTE:

OSEP provides guidance on homeless children with disabilities:

Questions and Answers on Special Education and Homelessness

This Q&A document provides state and local education officials, early intervention services providers and homeless assistance coordinators with information to assist with implementation of the requirements of the IDEA and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.    

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

Developing Kindergarten Readiness and Other Large-Scale Assessment Systems: Necessary Considerations in the Assessment of Young Children

The Center for Applied Research at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has developed new guidance to support states' development and implementation of kindergarten readiness assessment systems.

Southeast Comprehensive Center

Improving School Readiness and Success for Children

This article reviews the significance of school readiness and factors that help young learners prepare for school. School readiness is described as having three components: (1) a child's readiness for school; (2) schools' readiness to support the learning and development of every child; and (3) family and community supports and services that contribute to children's readiness. School readiness also requires high-quality preschool and readiness programs, professional development for the early childhood workforce and policy alignment of early learning guidelines and standards with content standards, coordinated early childhood data systems and other efforts targeted to address the needs of young children and their families.

PACER

Centers for Youth With Disabilities, Parents and Professionals Working in Transition and Employment Planning  

This vocational rehabilitation (VR) Research in Brief summarizes current research findings on the Rehabilitation Services Administration's parent training resources.  Parent involvement can be an essential principle during the critical period when youth with disabilities transition from the public education system to adult services and the adult world.